1. The Perfect 'Fallout Experience' Is Already Out There
As I mentioned earlier, Fallout fans either fall into two camps: One, the scorned former lovers of Black Isle's work from the first two games, who forever state F3 was 'a bad Fallout game' as they enjoyed New Vegas thanks to having returning members of BI on-staff. And two, people accepting of the newer direction as 'their' Fallout, but who after seeing Fallout 4's almost candy-coated graphical approach, are willing Bethesda to put something more apocalyptically-tinged into its presentation all the same. May I thereby point the defendant in the direction of Exhibit A, Metro: Last Light, and B, Wasteland 2? The former is developer 4A Games tale of a humanity rebuilding following a nuclear fallout, whereby many have fled underground to survive. Playing as Russian ranger Artyom in a weighty first-person mould, you get to explore the various facets of life, culture, religion and more as people rebuild themselves and raise a new generation based on the remnants of what was recoverable after the blast. There's nothing as introspective and well executed in terms of a scenario you can walk through as many of Last Light's underground areas, and combat-wise things like having to clean your visor, doggedly watch your ammo count and genuinely struggle to stay on the surface all contribute to one hell of a 'Fallout-style experience' that feels progressive, weighty and memorable. Then there's Wasteland 2, co-developed by inXile Entertainment and Obsidian (the latter comprised of staff that worked on the original Fallout titles). Essentially the lost Fallout game they never got to make, it is hands-down the perfect continuation of those games' project directions left off. The isometric camera creates a sense of being and exploration that many fans have mentioned just doesn't come across in first-person, and when the combat is turn-based, you can spend hours speccing characters in thousands of ways and the interlinked upgrade paths and gameplay systems take hours to perfect; it's the 'pen n' paper'-style RPG that Fallout will never be again. Maybe it's time for all those so vehemently opposed to 'old' or 'new' Fallout, to just admit there are better experiences out there from developers with far less to lose, and let Fallout 4 be something of a middle-child that caters to both in smaller ways. Is that the real huge problem? Let us know in the comments below.
